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Chapter Four

Social Class and Families

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Definition of Social Class Two views

A person’s relationship to the means of production

A way of ordering people in a society according to degrees of:

Power = Ability to force a person to do something against his will

Prestige = Honor and status in society

Privilege = Advantage or benefits enjoyed, often related to income or wealth

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American Social Classes Today

Upper Class Middle Class Working Class Lower Class

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Upper-Class Families Amassed wealth, privilege and often

prestige Recognized as cultural and social

elite Owners or senior managers of large

corporations, banks and law firms Many wives do not work- volunteer

and attend social events instead Little research available on this class

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Secure, comfortable income- live well

Can afford nice house, car, college education for children, etc.

Professionals and medium-sized business owners

Middle-Class Families

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Doctors, lawyers, engineers, CPA’s and corporate executives Jobs have prestige and fringe benefits Educated mainly at public schools

and university (advanced degrees) Women are generally

underrepresented at this income level

Middle-Class Families

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Working-Class Families Income provides reliably for

minimum needs for a modest lifestyle Modest home or apartment Car Public college education for children

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Blue collar workers Union workers, construction workers,

small farmers, nurses, Mom and Pop business owners

More vulnerable to periods of unemployment

Contingent workers = may not work whole week, no fringe benefits

Working-Class Families

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Lower-Class Families

Tenuous connection to economy - reliability of providing decent life in question “Working poor” - low-paying jobs Frequently unemployed

Live in substandard housing

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Semi-skilled and unskilled workers = low-wage workers ($5-$7/hr) Factories, construction, warehouses,

retail, fast food, delivery Some on cash assistance from

government Others are homeless

Lower-Class Families

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Changing Concepts of Social Class Women’s employment is used to

distinguish class when added to men’s employment (dual income families)

Single-parent, female-headed families do not fit traditional conceptions of class Standard of living drops when marriage

ends- education, friends, interests stay the same

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Families and the Economy Effects of current economic

restructuring Effects of prosperity of 1950s

and 60s Unequal distribution of income Effects of dual income

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Impact of Economic Restructuring

Technological changes Different types of jobs and skills Workers replaced with machines

Loss of skilled and semi-skilled jobs to developing countries

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No college education = low paying service and unskilled manual labor jobs

Nonstandard employment Contingency workers without job security

and benefits Prosperity of 1950’s and 60’s

Good incomes, jobs available Youth expected to earn more than parents

Impact of Economic Restructuring

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Stagnating wages, especially for men Result of fourfold increase in oil prices

in 1970s Entry-level jobs hit hard

Work often done by young parents with high school education

Impact of Economic Restructuring

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Unequal Distribution of Income

Increasing gap between college educated and non-college educated

Distribution of family income Proportion of the total income of

all families in the nation that each family receives

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Unequal Distribution of Income

Income inequality among families increased for three reasons: Growing inequality in the earnings of

men The growth of single-parent families The movement of middle-class

women into the workforce

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Decreased in US in 50s and 60s Increased from 70s through mid-

90’s “Poverty line”

Official government income level Calculated as enough money to buy

food for an “economy” diet for family, multiplied by three

Trends in Poverty

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Prospects for Dual-Earner Couples Having two incomes helps counter other

effects of economy Changes in variation of family structure

Two earners help keep families at higher income level

Families with no husband- serious effects on level of income

Persistent poverty hits single mothers and children hardest

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Lower-Class Families

Women-centered kinship Help members survive hardships of

poverty Chronic unemployment of men

Compression of generations Cost of kin networks

Kinship networks can perpetuate poverty- difficult to leave home, accumulate savings

Must share with others

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Working-Class Families More segregation of men and

women, including roles of husband and wifeStrict division of labor

men’s place in the workplace women’s place in the home

Migration to suburbs and changes in economy have weakened this idea

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Changing attitudes toward gender roles

women’s work outside the home becoming more accepted

regardless of work, some women still define themselves as primarily wives and mothers

most women in working class have incorporated paid employment into their idea of wife’s “proper” role

Working-Class Families

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Middle-Class Families Primacy of Conjugal family

family is core income is spent on children and parents

More independent of kin Kinship has strong vertical ties

(generation to generation) Women do kinship work

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Upper-Class Families

Family task is to preserve and increase wealth Historically tied to arranged

marriages To increase land, wealth and power

Families still try to influence marriage choice

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Until recently, vast majority of wives did not work outside home Men work, women in charge of home

work: entertaining and socializing More likely to hire help to get housework

and other home work done Socializing done for work benefit, not

family benefit Less likely to keep kinship ties

Upper-Class Families

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Social Class and the Family

Changes in economic roles have altered family lives Women’s participation in labor

market is important for economic stability

dual-earner couples more likely to have reliable income

birthrates declined, women more able to work

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Rise in divorce rates Kinship

In lower class, more important than father of children

Social Class and the Family